Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1887-03-23
THE ALPS In WINTER.
AN ENGLlSRMAN CROSSING BY THE
ALBULA EASS IN A STORM.
An Undertaking That Called for All the
Skill of an Experienced Guide-Fall
Iona Ekenna.

skill of an Experienced Guide-Fan
Over Precipice-An Almost Miracu-
lous Escape.
was informed that in some parts of the
pass there were masses of snow fourteen
and sixteen feet deep, and it would be all
but impossible to get through them. AS
persisted in my determinat ion, however,
] at length succeeded in obtaining the scrv-
ices of sturdy peasant Wa knew every
inch of the route, and who was tempted by
the liberal fee l offered him. We left
Bergun soon after IL with n we'll stocked
knapsack of provisions, including u bottle
of old brandy. An hour later the sky had
Cloudcd over, the sun had quite disap-
penIcd and little wreathS of pOwdery
snow filled the air.
As We approached the majestic and ter
rife Tcufclsthal the snow thickened and
fell in large, compact flakes, while the
gust of deadly wind came up with roar
from the awful raVinc where the Albula
thundcrs in its rocky bed 500 feet below
the roadway. The whole landscape was
obliterated, and it was impossible to see
half dozen yards ahead. The road itself
was entirely lost, but the guide, with I'M
erring instinct. traced the way, clcverly
llCs dL1A OAC uAAAeHi
though now and again we found ourselves
struggling up to the waist i'll soft accu-
mutations on the road itself. By the time
we had painfully toiled up to the we'll
known stone bridge which spans the awful
rayine, the wind was blowing a gale,
while the snow was binding. We came
within an ace of plunging down into the
rocky chaSm; for the snow was level
with the parapet of the bridge, over
which it curled in great cornice.
PERILoUs UNDERTAKING.
Here, for the first time perhaps, we
fully realized the hazardous nature of the
undertaking. But to turn back was out
of the question, as that would have been
even worse than going on. From the
bridge the road is carried over the face of
stupendous precipice, and thence de-
bouchcS on to an extensive plain. Before
opening upon the plain the detile is eX-
ceedingly narrow, and through this the
wind swept with such terrific force, and
was so charged with compact snow, that
six different times were we driven back
into the shelter of the projecting rocks
that broke the force OF the cruel blasts.
At length, taking advantage of a lull, we
forced the passage and gained the open.
/ confess that here ! almost lost heart.
The icy wind seemed to blow clean through
one, and it stung the exposed parts of the
face like whip cords. All around appeared
to be a solid wall of snow. The flakes
were as large as five shilling pieces, and
almost blinded one. Conversation was out
of the question, for it was was impossible
to hear each other, while the eXertion re-
quired to make progress at all was ex-
ceedingly eXhausting.
No one who hadn't been born among
these mountains and who had not spent a
lifetime in such desolate regions could
possibly have found his way and must in
evitably have persisted. But my guide,
with one or two exceptions, never once
seemed to go astray. For myself, fol-
lowed in his tracks mechanically. / was
numbed and drowsy, and he had the ap-
pearance to me of white specter only
dimly seen. Although by the hour there
should have been plenty of daylight, the
air was darkened by thick snow, and
began to very seriously doubt whether 1t
was at all possible to reach our destina-
ton. The guide had similar thoughts, for
soon after he stopped and shouted in my
ear that there was shepherds hut some
where about there, and it would be as
we'll to try and find it and shelter in it for
the night. | readily acquiesced in this
proposal, and we turned off at an angle
and forged ahead for about quarter of
an hour, when, with startling suddenness,
the guide Representatives. l knew not.
l only knew that he had gone out of my
vision, and l was left alone in that CHASTITY
region of death, with the appalling roar
of the wind and the river laundering in
my ears.
OVER A PRECIPICE.
stood for a moment and shouted, but
my voice was drowned by the wind, and l
scarcely heard it myself. determined to
try and discover what had become of my
companion, and render him assistance, if
needed. And so, like a blind man CROP
ing along, advanced cautiously, probing
the snow with my alpenstock, but sudden
ly my feet seemed to go from under me
and felt myself falling through the air.
The next thing that l was conscious of
was that was buried in the snow and
was suffocating. l raised my hands with
some difficulty and cleared the snow from
my mouth and was then able to breathe.
The next moment heard voice very close
to me, and never in all my life have l heard
anything that sounded so welcome as did
that human voice in that awful moment
of deadly peril. managed to turn round
dIIu Sd" dUOuU d1u away CuC ACCtN CIuA
shoulders of my companion. The situation
was clear now; we had plunged over a
precipice about ten feet and fallen into a
soft snow drift eve must get out of
this Immediately" he said calmly, cor
we're dead men," He had retained pos
session of his alpenstock, and he gave me
one end of it, and by this MEANS but only
with great difficulty, he was enabled to
extricate himself. We fortified ourselves
with strong dose of brandy, and he then
pulled me out and we scrambled by the
aid of some bushes to the road again.
The cold was increasing, night was COM
ing on, and the snow was thickening. We
were alone in that stern wilderness, and
at any moment we might topple over some
precipice, or, failing that, sink from ex
haustion in the snow and be frozen to
death, If we could only have got shelter
from the deadly wind, things would not
have been so bad. For, apart from the
distressing sense of nuhbness it produced,
it swirled the snow around us and made
breathing most difficult. One had to take
in the dir in gasps, as 1t We're, and at in
tervals, when the force of the blasts less
ened For two and half weary hours we
struggled on. 1t was sheer struggle of
physical strength against the forces of
nature, and the slightest failure of that
strength would have sealed our doom. At
length, with startling suddenness, my
companion uttered joyful zodel His
quick eyes had seen what mine had not
namely, a friendly CLEAN OF light stream
ing from one of the little windows of the
lonely hospice on the summit. The people
of the hospice heard the shout and came out
with lantern to welcome us. They were
naturally surprised at our appearance,
and as we entered the room, where huge
iron stove diffused genial warmth, felt
that we had come out of white world of
death into the living, breathing atmos
phere of human companionship, that was
doubly and trebly welcome after the ex-
treme peril we had passed through
Geneva Cor. London News.